The smelting building was nearly formed by the next day. Those twisting roots had created an open-air workshop overnight, complete with wood that was forming into the shape of a massive crucible. Rud stood outside of the building, admiring what Ban could do with just her magical energy and some woods. He had brought the ore out from the mine, using his pack to create large piles outside of the smelter. Mint appeared beside him, panting for breath and looking rather annoyed.

  “Do you know how to work that thing?” she asked.

  Rud looked at her with an amused expression. “I watched a video online once. I’m practically an expert.”

  “Using that magic screen?”

  “The same one I used to pick this body,” Rud said, gesturing vaguely at himself.

  “Do you remember all the steps?”

  Rud looked at her and smiled. “Of course not.”

  “Then how do you intend to smelt ore if you don’t know how to smelt ore?” Mint asked, giving him an expressionless look.

  “We’re gonna wing it,” Rud said, gesturing at the building. “My guess is that the building does most of the work. I know people used to make clay furnaces to make ore. My assumption is that Ban’s magic will take care of whatever slag this raw ore produces. It goes to the top or the bottom… who knows?”

  “What do you require to make this happen, Rud?” Mint asked.

  Rud could hear it in the tone of her voice. They needed the ingot plan to work out if they wanted to get enough fragments to keep Ban running. “Tongs, a hammer I can swing, ingot molds, and bellows. Not sure if the building will generate those things.”

  “I can find those,” Mint said. Rud grew more suspicious of where she got those things by the day. She vanished before he could say anything else.

  Rud checked on Ban’s energy levels before leaving for the stump field, backpack filled with water buckets. He had to feed her another fragment to keep her going, leaving him with one. Gritting his teeth, the druid stepped through the underbrush to appear near the stump field. As he was removing a bucket from the pack, stepping onto the field of sticks, he spotted Mira by the mailbox. She looked up, slightly startled.

  “Ash!” Mira turned, shouting to someone in the distance. “He’s here!”

  Rud shuffled over to see what was going on. He watched as someone came from the distance. They didn’t walk over the sticks, slithering instead. The beastfolk who approached had the top half of a person and the bottom half of a serpent. They wore a long purple robe, complete with hood, that covered some of their snake-like features. Like most beastfolk, they had the head of the creature they took other features from, including a flicking forked-tongue. After the snake-person approached the pair, they bowed.

  “Asharius,” she said, bowing her head. Rud realized she was a woman, if only from the tone of her voice.

  “Ash is a mage,” Mira explained. “If you didn’t guess by her attire. She can take care of your dungeon seed problem.”

  “And pay you handsomely,” Ash said, her tongue flicking in Mira’s direction. “He accepts fragments, doesn’t he?”

  Mira groaned. “Don’t embarrass me in front of the spirit.”

  Ash’s gaze lingered on Mira for a moment before dragging over to Rud. “The providence of a custodian’s role as a spirit is debated. He is closer to a mortal.”

  “This isn’t a scholarly debate, Ash. Come on. This is a clandestine operation to help the little guy out.”

  Ash sighed, waving a dismissive hand. “Superstitious. Come, little one. Lead us to this seed.”

  “We have permission to enter,” Mira asked, looking at Rud. “Right?”

  Rud turned to the forest. It was a good idea to warn the wolf lurking within. “Don’t eat them, Mint. The snake-lady is going to help with the dungeon seed.”

  “But they look so tasty. Just a bite?” Mint asked, speaking into Rud’s mind.

  “Not even a bite. Please, Mint.”

  Both Ash and Mira looked concerned.

  “Fine.”

  “We’re good,” Rud said, giving them the double thumbs-up. Mint was likely joking. Rud hoped she was joking. She was joking, wasn’t she?

  Rud led the way through the forest. He saw how the forest creatures scattered away, running from the mortals entering the grove. Both Ash and Mira held their breath as they crossed the threshold, and occasionally throughout the walk. But no words were exchanged as they approached the clearing with the haunted rock.

  “Ah. Interesting,” Ash said, stepping one foot inside the clearing. She winced against some invisible force. “The seed is frightening. That’s good. It expected to plant itself in the grove, siphoning energy from the Sacred Tree.”

  “Kill it with fire,” Mira said, visibly shaken by Ash’s words.

  “Not quite,” Ash said, withdrawing a satchel from under her robes. “This may take some time, custodian. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Please,” Rud said with a shrug. “Take all the time you need.”

  Ash got to work. She pulled out a length of wood out of her bag, tracing a circle on the clearing’s edge. Rud watched as she filled in circles on the line with intricate symbols. He backed away with Mira, giving the mage more room to work.

  “The other dungeon is way worse for us,” Rud said. “When can you take care of it?”

  “Soon, forest spirit. This job is off the books, alright?” Mira asked, kneeling to be at eye-level with him. “When I got your message, it seemed urgent. The job isn’t hard, I just needed Ash to slip away from her responsibilities for some time.”

  “She seems interested in the seed.”

  “She is. So, who is the guardian of this grove?” Mira asked. “You called them Mint.”

  “I don’t think she wants to come out to greet you,” Rud said with a soft chuckle. “She’s been busy with the other dungeon.”

  “Could you give me details on that dungeon? What kind of monsters are coming out?”

  Rud gave a rough description of what he remembered and what Mint had told him. Mira nodded along as he talked, making a mental note of the information.

  “Flame Constructs, I think,” Mira said. “At least we know what we’re dealing with.”

  Ash had filled in all parts of the circle, and had stepped back. She chanted something repeatedly, stirring up a wind that blew through the trees. The boughs rustled and leaves fell to the ground. Light formed on the circle as she chanted. This went on for quite some time.

  “Do you know anything about smelting ore?” Rud asked, withdrawing a handful of rocks from his bag. “This stuff?”

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  “You’ve found yourself some copper, although I don’t know the name of the rock. Do you have a crucible? Or a mud forge?” she asked.

  “Let’s say I have a crucible.” Rud nodded to himself. He didn’t know what form the smeltery would take in the end.

  “I’ve seen the ironmongers work,” Mira said, dropping to a seated position on the forest floor. “They crush those rocks up and dump them in a smelter. Do you have coal?”

  Rud planned to use charcoal, as the mine didn’t have seams of coal. This was a layer of complication he wasn’t prepared for, but it needed to happen. The druid absolutely needed other things to trade with, or Ban might decline. “I don’t.”

  “Know how to make charcoal?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Should be as easy as blowing air on a charcoal fire. You won’t have problems melting copper. The slag should drop to the bottom of the furnace. Whatever you may or may not be using.”

  Rud appreciated Mira’s tact in this situation. She must have known he was clueless. Although she might not know that he was from another world, it should have been clear to most people that he was clueless. That wouldn’t stop him from doing his best to make this work though. Above everything else was his desire to ensure Ban’s safety.

  “I appreciate it, Mira,” Rud said, squinting as another errant gust of wind washed over them. Ash was busy with her circle, marching the perimeter and chanting. “How many fragments will she give me for this?”

  “She’ll owe you after this. I think she brought ten fragments, but will owe you fifty.” Mira saw the concern on Rud’s face. “She’s good for it. I’ll ensure that.”

  But ten fragments could get him a long way. Mira and Ash’s response to this minor crisis brought to light some information about the logging camp of the mortals, though. Ash was likely staying at the logging camp, which provided an approach to the field of stumps within a day. The woodcutters called Mira their protector, meaning they had warriors of some kind stationed there. Fighters that would keep the logging operation running smoothly. Not everyone had a spirit wolf, after all.

  Ash continued her work. In time, the circle peeled up from the ground, glowing as it wrapped around the stone like twine blown in the wind. The places where the circle touched erupted in multicolored flame that burned nothing. Within a few minutes of wrapping the stone, the mage pulled it from the ground with some unseen magical force. It hovered several feet off the ground, Ash holding it as though walking her pet hover-rock.

  “Neato,” Rud said, clapping with excitement. “Far more impressive than my magic.”

  “It is vital that I return this to my workshop,” Ash said, turning away and trudging a few paces through the forest. She stopped and so did her rock. “Which way was it?”

  Rud laughed, pushing through to lead the way. His sense of direction within the forest was great, while these mortals seemed to wane after a few steps. He led them back to the field of stumps without an issue, watching as the stone hovered awkwardly behind Ash. She didn’t wait for an invitation, pressing forward to wherever her workshop was. Somewhere along her trail, a cloth bag had fallen to the ground containing his payment.

  The fragments she left behind were better quality than the one Mira had given him. Good fragments displayed clarity. Bad ones were cloudy with little cracks in the middle. The druid stuffed the bag inside his backpack, happy to have more fuel for the tree.

  “I promise,” Mira said, locking eyes with him yet again. “We’ll get the other dungeon sorted.”

  “I hope so,” Rud said, eyes locked onto Ash and her rock.

  “I need to go. One last trip over the lake… hopefully.”

  “Good luck.”

  Ash and Mira left behind a strange feeling in the grove. Rud stepped through a bush with Thicket Travel and appeared near the Sacred Tree. He knew Mint was somewhere distant, fighting against the weird fire monsters. His bag was filled with fragments, and his mind brimmed with new information. It wasn’t revelatory to learn that his plan for melting the ore into bars might work. After feeding Ban two fragments, the druid once again stepped through to appear near the mine.

  The smelting building was well on its way, but still had some progress to make. Rud had something else he wanted to do while he waited for the building to be completed. His fresh supply of fragments, however thin they might be, brought confidence that he could spend a few days messing around without worrying about Ban. If Mira was right, he was owed another fifty from the snake-mage. That might represent a steady stream of fragments, even if the tree was sucking them down like water.

  Rud worked his way through the forest near the mine, looking for plants that lined up with the leaves Mint used for her tea. He didn’t know where she dried them, or even how that process worked, but he was confident he could identify them easily enough. There were two components to her tea. A sweet leaf that provided the delicious base, and another that brought tart citrus. He searched the hilly area first, finding nothing that looked or smelled like what he expected. There were a few thorny plants that he almost grabbed, and narrowed avoided grasping onto stinging nettles.

  After exhausting the area, and collecting enough mushrooms and nuts to feed a squirrel army, he descended to the area near the stream. The marshy place near the waterfall bore fruit, though. Rud knelt near one plant with soft green leaves. Even without pinching a leaf off to test, he could smell the fragrance of lemons. He dug in the ground around the plant, careful to remove as much of the root as possible before placing it in his bag. Understanding that Mint was a person who wouldn’t stand for nonsense, he tracked the path of the stream southward, following the curve that brought it heading east.

  Rud found the sweet-smelling plant after some time of searching. He had taken a break near a small pond created by the stream to observe frogs. They weren’t as rude as the birds, but less friendly than the squirrels. The sweet plant had small leaves with a dark stem. He dug that plant up, adding it alongside the other plant in his bag before stepping through some brush. The druid cleared away leaves, sticks, and rocks from the side of his mushroom house. He staked the area out with fallen tree branches, digging two holes a fair distance apart for his new plants.

  After using his Plant Growth spell, gaining Level 4 in his Growth Magic skill, he left and returned with buckets of enchanted pond water. Both plants were small before he had used his magic on them, only coming up to his shin. And both plants were now almost as tall as he was, with leaves half the length of his hand. Before consuming either leaf, he would check with Mint to make sure they were safe to consume. Rud patted the ground near each plant, making sure the root bed was at the right depth. He was unsurprised when he got a level in his Plant Care skill, bringing him to Level 3.

  “Everything is looking up for Rud,” he said, patting himself on the back.

  The druid didn’t have to wait long for Mint to come sniffing around. He cut leaves that looked ready to harvest, judging only from his inexperienced eye, and bound them together with twine from his old shirt. He pinned them above his door on the inside of his mushroom house, interrupted only by the enormous wolf’s head poking through the door.

  “Have you stolen my herbs?” she asked, emitting a slight growl.

  “Lady, I got my own plants.”

  “Perhaps your sense of smell isn’t completely useless. You found them by the stream, didn’t you?”

  “I did. Guess that means they’re not poisonous.”

  “Correct. Do not cut the leaves as you’re drying them. Perhaps this is another venture you could undertake.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Mint shifted into her human form, a puff of smoke issuing from her wolf form. When it cleared, she was bent low and entered the mushroom house, squeezing into the undersized interior. “Mortals love tea. And my tea has invigorating properties. Just tell the menfolk it will help them and then wink. They’ll buy it.”

  Rud edged to the side of his house, wincing as Mint knocked things over. She could fit within the interior, it was just the entrance that was narrow. But the things he had arranged were made for someone his size. She might have stood at six-foot-something compared to his five-foot-even, but it was a large enough difference to make the fit awkward. “I appreciate the advice.”

  “Anytime,” Mint said, settling in on the clearest side of the room. “I could find clay pots for you to store your finished tea inside of.”

  “That’s not a horrible idea. Did you get the other stuff I asked for?”

  “Indeed I did.”

  “There’s a dead town near here, isn’t there? It has to be recently dead based on the quality of the things you bring back.”

  “Quite recent,” Mint said, nodding. “I’m not sure what they were doing down by the lake. But they left behind goodies, so they were gone in a flash.”

  It was always good to know that on top of haunted rocks, there was a nearby haunted village. Druids didn’t deal with the dead, so Rud scoured the thought of investigating from his mind. It was outside of the grove’s range, which meant he would need to walk the entire way. He pulled his mind away from the dead town and gave Mint the exciting news. Not only had the dungeon seed been removed, but he got paid for it.

  “People pay for that junk?” Mint asked, snorting. “Sixty fragments worth? Surprised she didn’t try giving you coins. Yuck. I hate coins.”

  “I already told Mira what we accept as payment. And I don’t have all sixty yet, but she said that Ash was good for it.”

  “Let’s hope so. That dwarf that was heading here was delayed. Might be done for. I don’t know.”

  If the dwarf couldn’t make it, that was that. Rud wouldn’t put much thought into it, other than the faint feeling of guilt for a person he didn’t know passing away before their time. “Do you know if the dead town has coal?”

  “None that I saw.”

  “How about large metal containers?”

  “How large?”

  Rud shrugged, gesturing with his arms. “About this big. I need to make charcoal for the smelter.”

  “What do you need charcoal for, silly druid?” Mint asked, laughing. “Go to the bog. Pull out some Fairy Peat.”

  Rud narrowed his gaze at the wolf-woman. “Why must you constantly wait until the last second to tell me about this stuff?”

  Mint shrugged, bending down low once again to squeeze out of the house. “Come on! I’ll show you where the bog is.”